I can hardly believe I can utter the following words, "The fog is clearing!" Work has been quite the undertaking. I do think moderate degrees of change are great for personal growth. My new teaching position has definitely been full of challenges that have pushed me to reflect on my daily teaching practices. For example, how can I extend this lesson more to push kids to think at greater depths? Am I being sensative to all cultures represented in the room? Is anything I am saying making sense!
Phase II of teaching is beginning. I am finally at a point where I have an understanding of day to day expectations that I can begin to get creative with my teaching style and have lunch in the faculty lunchroom! To this point, I have needed all the time I can get to wrap my brain around the routines of the school.
This week we have a whole elementary school staff retreat to the Ardennes which is the moutainous region in the southern region of Belgium. A big sleepover in a sense with my colleagugues with surely an ample supply of Belgian's prized Beers :) Needless to say, I can't wait! The school takes each division of the school every other year on a small excursion to do workshops off-site. I happened to land on the right year!
After I get back from the Ardennes on Friday, I will be packing my bags for another departure to the Ardennes on Monday!!! Grade 4 is taking their big Outdoor Education Field Trip. In my school district in Colorado, we took Grade 6 to Rocky Mountain National Park. It seems to be really similar with a litenay of activities: kayaking, moutain biking, caving, rock climbing, ropes courses, etc.
I am the Grade 4 Team lead for the whitewater section ;) We take the kids on 2 person kayaks that is as still as pools in a backyard! I have to thank Tracey for providing me with my first kayaking experience in Boston on the Charles River right before I left. It was such a blast :) We had an assembly to get the kids excited about the trip. I had to introduce the kayak section and asked the kids three questions... "Who likes to get muddy, Who likes to get wet, Who wants toget in a kayak!"
Although the next week is going to be quite busy, I am really looking forward to it :)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
No Car Sunday!
In the city of Brussels today, no cars were permitted on the road! The only exceptions were a few taxis. There were countless bikes, walkers, rollerbladers, skateboarders, and many forms of public transportation. What a great way to promote healthy activity and environmental friendliness :)
Across the city, they had festivals and street parties. The weather certainly corportated as it was a beatiful day. Kacy and I walked over to the palace area of King Albert II. There we found the largest of the street festivals. This is where it gets really good :)
How weird and funny is this picture of an activity for kids!!!!!!! It was an activity to see which kid could milk the cow the fastest! Does it get any funnier than this!
Slowly Catching up...
Back!
What a string of days lately! School started a few weeks ago and the time has sped by with it. With any new position comes a learning curve, it has been a race to keep up with all the happenings.
My teaching position consists of several parts which has added to an even fuller plate. Essentially, 60% o my day is spent co-teaching a 4th grade classroom and working everyday a mathematics and language arts block. What is really special about the make-up of our classroom is the students have many different levels of intelligences and learning styles. 25% of our students are gifted students, 50% are at grade level, and 25% of learning support needs. The beginning of the year is so critical for setting up expectations for the remainder of the year. Michelle (The other co-teacher) and I have spent a great deal of time setting up a culture for our room that supports and recognizes differences in all people given the diversity of our group.
I also teach a small class that supports additional reading and writing skills. Wow, what a group these kido's are!!! We have just finished up creating and presenting "Get To Know Me," PowerPoint Presentations. This is my first experience with 4th graders as I have taught 6th, 7th, or 8th over the past few years. This small group of kids exceled with these presentations and shocked me with their skills with technology! A blog discussion for another day.... Technology is an incredible teaching tool to use with students!!!
The remaining portion of my day I spend consulting with 4 other 4th grade teachers and any other learning support students that are not in my co-teaching class. This has been a bit tricky. Every teacher has their own teaching style and I have met with all the teachers trying to sort out how collectively we are going to best meet the needs of the students. For example, I may go help inside a classroom with particular activities, I may have a small group pull-out session with students that need extra help, etc.
The atmosphere of the school is powerful to be around. It has been a great point of comparision for me. I already feel that I have been enriched by this experience. Thtere are two striking differences between my experiences in the US and here. Before I mention them, let me preface that I taught in public schools in the US and this is an International Private School. Saying that, I still believe something is to be said for the following;
1.) Children PLAY so much here during school. They have one 20 minute morning recess time every day and this is in addition to a 30 minute afternoon recess. The kids just go crazy on the playground in a great way! I can not help but to think if this helps them focus on their academics when we bring them in.
2.) The second most striking difference is the depth to which units of learning are taught. We are an inquiry based schools and the focus revolves around the thinking behind an answer. This happens in my past experiences, however, I believe the pacing charts that teachers go by here are cut in half as to what I am use to. Instead, we teach at such a great depth to our topics.
It will be really neat to see how the rest of the year plays out. The kids have been fantastic and the support for new teachers is immense.
After school, I am the varisty girls assistant soccer coach. I was suppose to be the head coach for the J.V. girls team, except that the turnout was quite low. It was really sad to me :( Soccer is and has been so much a part of my identity and has presented me with a world of opportunities that I hope that other girls may be able to see the benefits of sport. Other sports seem to be popoular here such as field hockey, cross country, etc. This has been disappointing, but I am glad to be around the game. We just came back from our first trip to the Hauge in Netherlands. We are a young team with a lot of inexperience. We lost both games, but took away lots of points to improve on!
I hope everyone is well :)
My teaching position consists of several parts which has added to an even fuller plate. Essentially, 60% o my day is spent co-teaching a 4th grade classroom and working everyday a mathematics and language arts block. What is really special about the make-up of our classroom is the students have many different levels of intelligences and learning styles. 25% of our students are gifted students, 50% are at grade level, and 25% of learning support needs. The beginning of the year is so critical for setting up expectations for the remainder of the year. Michelle (The other co-teacher) and I have spent a great deal of time setting up a culture for our room that supports and recognizes differences in all people given the diversity of our group.
I also teach a small class that supports additional reading and writing skills. Wow, what a group these kido's are!!! We have just finished up creating and presenting "Get To Know Me," PowerPoint Presentations. This is my first experience with 4th graders as I have taught 6th, 7th, or 8th over the past few years. This small group of kids exceled with these presentations and shocked me with their skills with technology! A blog discussion for another day.... Technology is an incredible teaching tool to use with students!!!
The remaining portion of my day I spend consulting with 4 other 4th grade teachers and any other learning support students that are not in my co-teaching class. This has been a bit tricky. Every teacher has their own teaching style and I have met with all the teachers trying to sort out how collectively we are going to best meet the needs of the students. For example, I may go help inside a classroom with particular activities, I may have a small group pull-out session with students that need extra help, etc.
The atmosphere of the school is powerful to be around. It has been a great point of comparision for me. I already feel that I have been enriched by this experience. Thtere are two striking differences between my experiences in the US and here. Before I mention them, let me preface that I taught in public schools in the US and this is an International Private School. Saying that, I still believe something is to be said for the following;
1.) Children PLAY so much here during school. They have one 20 minute morning recess time every day and this is in addition to a 30 minute afternoon recess. The kids just go crazy on the playground in a great way! I can not help but to think if this helps them focus on their academics when we bring them in.
2.) The second most striking difference is the depth to which units of learning are taught. We are an inquiry based schools and the focus revolves around the thinking behind an answer. This happens in my past experiences, however, I believe the pacing charts that teachers go by here are cut in half as to what I am use to. Instead, we teach at such a great depth to our topics.
It will be really neat to see how the rest of the year plays out. The kids have been fantastic and the support for new teachers is immense.
After school, I am the varisty girls assistant soccer coach. I was suppose to be the head coach for the J.V. girls team, except that the turnout was quite low. It was really sad to me :( Soccer is and has been so much a part of my identity and has presented me with a world of opportunities that I hope that other girls may be able to see the benefits of sport. Other sports seem to be popoular here such as field hockey, cross country, etc. This has been disappointing, but I am glad to be around the game. We just came back from our first trip to the Hauge in Netherlands. We are a young team with a lot of inexperience. We lost both games, but took away lots of points to improve on!
I hope everyone is well :)
Oh yes, the pictures are some moments with the students so far! We have 3 ecosystems at the campus of the school and students in science are learning about plants in each and the boy is sketching a plant near the pond.
More soon!
More soon!
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